River fishing tips | Choose the waggler over the pole

As we head towards winter, it’s all too easy to bank on the precision and great presentation offered by the pole. 

By doing so, though, you’re immediately limiting yourself, in my opinion, in terms of flexibility. 

The pole is brilliant for catching in one tight area over your feed, but you can be left wanting for the chance to fish further out or off to one side to see if the fish have moved slightly. With a waggler, you can achieve this in seconds. 

On deep canals such as the ones close to me in South Yorkshire, the waggler becomes a key tactic to have up your sleeve and can sometimes totally outfish the pole in clear water, or when there are a lot of fish to catch quickly.

It’s also a classic and easy method to fish, and one that doesn’t need thousands of pounds’ worth of long pole to achieve. Most of us were brought up fishing the waggler, so it’s nice to be able to leave the pole in the bag and go back to basics.

Why wagglers score

For me there are three reasons to use the float over the pole. First, speed. It’s much quicker to cast out and wind in fish than it is shipping 14m or 16m of pole in and out on a busy bank. 

Seond, in clear water the fish will be much happier without a pole being wafted over their heads... and finally, the waggler gives you the versatility to cast around the peg to seek out fish if bites are few and far between in one spot. The pole cannot do any of these.

Going the distance

If you plan on having a long pole line, make sure there’s enough space between this swim and where you’re fishing the waggler. 

The range you pick must be able to be reached with your loosefeed, so around 18m is good. 

If you have a feature like a boat in front of you, there’s the temptation to cast tight up to it but I wouldn’t –  instead I would make sure there’s a few metres between the float and the boat to let me go further over if the fish back off. 

Try fishing shallow

I know we’re in November, but until the really cold weather hits, I’m a firm believer in still being able to catch off bottom, especially on those big canals. 

Roach, rudd, hybrids and even skimmers will be sat here, but the big question is, how far off bottom do I need to come? 

This can be 2ft off the deck in 9ft of water, and if rudd are present, we could be talking as little as 2ft below the surface. 

It’s something you need to work out as the day goes on. As a rule, I would begin on the bottom and go shallower if bites were coming as the bait was falling, or if I was catching a lot of rudd.

No-tangle waggler rig

The days of big shot around the float base are gone, and this means no more tangles. I’ll use loaded floats, but try and fish as light a loading as possible. For most casts, a 1.5g loaded float is bang on.

My favourite is a loaded fine-tipped peacock insert waggler. This float needs only a moderate strength cast to hit the spot and is stopped by two Guru Line Stops. Down the line are evenly spaced three No9 shot, which leaves just a tiny bit of float showing so that I can easily see any hold-ups on the float from fish picking the bait up on the drop.

Tackle talk

Mainline is robust 0.18mm (5.3lb) Guru Pulse Pro to a Guru ready rig of 0.10mm N-Gauge and a size 18 Pole Special hook – I couldn’t tie them any better myself! The Pole Special is also a fine waggler hook so don’t be put off by the name.

That just leaves rods, and a 12ft through-actioned model will do nicely as there’s not the need for the extra reach of a 13ft or 14ft rod.

Feeding

Loosefeed is the way to go here, but how often the catapult is brought into action can vary. 

To begin with I’ll feed 15 to 20 maggots every third cast. Only if I am having a lot of grief from small fish will I switch to feeding every cast to ensure enough maggots are about to keep the better fish on the hunt.

I could use casters, but I think maggots sink more slowly and give me a better chance of catching on the drop.

Hookbaits

This is single or double maggot – casters are crushed too easily when you miss a bite – and I prefer a bronze or fluoro pink maggot by choice. When using a double maggot I will hook them through the pointed end to leave more hookpoint showing, which I’m positive means more bites turned into fish in the net.

Getting Twitchy

Seldom do I leave the float sat completely still in the peg. My waggler routine is to cast, let the float settle, and if I’ve not had an indication after 30 seconds, give the bait a twitch by turning the reel handle once. After another 30 seconds I’ll wind in and repeat but hopefully, the float will have gone under by this point!